I realize I sound like old man yelling at clouds but... ...in my day WE READ ALL THE CITATIONS BEFORE WE CITED THEM. That's how you GAIN THE KNOWLEDGE TO CITE THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE. Signed: Someone who literally read two whole books on the color blue just to write a single 1000 word article.

The vet receptionist, after several attempts to guess how to spell my cat's name (Miescher): what's her name from? Me: ...a Swiss biochemist from the 1860s

Happy birthday to the Peak District National Park, designated #otd 13 April 1951. Originally 555 square miles of moor and valley, the 'great north roof of England.' It would never have happened but for one woman... 1/4

seeing a lot of "higher gas prices won't affect me because I don't drive very much" and unfortunately it is my sad duty to inform you that your food does not teleport to the grocery store

happy /r/fantasy book bingo day to all who celebrate

Deploring Israel's actions as a state isn't antisemitic. Attacking Jews and symbols of Jewish culture in supposed retaliation for Israel's actions is however *textbook* antisemitism and these are not complicated thoughts to simultaneously hold in one's head.

if panspermia turns out to be true I owe an apology to one of my old professors

I think it’s cool that some people focus on curing disease and some people focus on understanding what animals are up to and some people think about our place in the universe and how things came to be the way they are. People are driven by curiosity and I promise you you don’t want it any other way

If you ask someone today to name the builder of Hadrian's Wall, they would give you a funny look. But historical memory is odd, and right up to the 1800s we forgot who built it. Until in 1840 John Hodgson, an obscure Northumbrian clergyman, published the LONGEST footnote in history... 1/22

When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.

Why do I have to pretend that I'm going to print something in order to save it as a PDF. Why do I have to engage in a little ruse.

Although if you've moved between England and Scotland those GP records might not carry over. (I missed a dose of MMR as a child in England, got a booster while living in Scotland, came back to England and my GP thought I was still behind because different record systems 🤷‍♀️)

the problem with ticking "reply to that email" off your to do list is that the buggers reply

they should make a movie series about how it’s irresponsible to use technology to mess with the natural order of things for profit

🔍Almost 70% of bowel cancers missed at colonoscopy are avoidable This study creates the first national system for identifying post-colonoscopy colorectal cancers and understanding why they arise ➡️ buff.ly/kmsoxGh

Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately https://theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-people-confirm-they-don-t-need-spec-1839033177/

We should be asking this c o n s t a n t l y.

If this happened at a steel plant there would be talk of government bail out to secure jobs

george lucas made a three film opus about how a combination of tariffs, incels, and anxiety would give rise to fascism and we all made fun of him smfh

Babe, new candidate for "most unfathomable spatial comparison" just dropped.

As if I couldn’t love him more, Ncuti Gatwa trying to explain Ribena to his American co-star is the joy we all need in the world today. You’re welcome.

Actually, Frankenstein is a doctor success at the Venice film festival

Concerned that we are losing the necessary ratio. 15% of teachers/faculty should be irretrievably strange eccentrics. Every learning experience should have some element where in later life you can reflect with former classmates about how bizarre at least one (1) class per year was.

Obviously the answer to this question is no, but more importantly, I will not take a question like this seriously until it is demonstrated to me that the makers of LLM technology, and their boosters in business and the media, have even the slightest concern for the suffering of actual human beings.

fundamentally the problem is that if you think "hotels are where I stay on holiday and I like being on holiday so living in a hotel must be fun and it's not fair others get to do it and not me" then you have the intellectual reasoning of a little child and it's going to be hard to engage with you

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

When the group chat asks you to explain a science news story 😁

If only there were a clinically proven, totally safe way to prevent diseases like measles…

Our annual infographic showcases the collective impact of our members and their incredible support for UK medical research. AMRC charities invest in universities and the NHS, as well as supporting the R&D workforce from the earliest stages of their careers: shorturl.at/hocmR #CharityImpact

It's #SmallCharityWeek! Last week we had the pleasure of bringing our #SmallbutMighty charities together at a workshop where they were able to talk, reflect and compare notes. You can read all about it in this wonderful post from Reena Morjaria (@bowelcanceruk.bsky.social): shorturl.at/6luGj

Men are extremely keen to explain to me that Britain *needs* a domestic steel production plant and doesn't necessarily *need* universities. Okay. Steel contributed about £1.7bn to the UK economy in 2024. Universities contributed more than £200bn.

It’s Mary Anning’s birthday, so time to share @katebeaton.bsky.social’s brilliant cartoon again.

Getting set up for our first Bowel Cancer UK Research Together Day! Excited to get our research grant holders together in person to share their projects and how we can best work together 💙

#OnThisDay in 1856, Charles Darwin noted in his journal, "began...writing species sketch." This "sketch" would form the base of his book On the Origin of Species. 🏺 🧪

Today's performative clampdown on migrants will gut our care homes of desperately needed staff. We are *already* short of over 150k carers. Banning foreign care workers will only exacerbate this - increasing suffering of society's most vulnerable members & pressures on the NHS. It's madness.

*pronouncing leo XIV like arXIV*

regardless of today’s outcome, it is morally indefensible to have a court ruling on something that affects a population, using evidence and findings that did not consult a single member of that population.

🚀🚀

ChatGPT consumes so much water and energy each week that it could power entire countries for YEARS and folk act like you told them to kill their selves cause you want them to write their own emails and not to steal art. 😂

If you haven’t seen Life Story, the 1987 BBC version of the discovery of the double helix, it’s available on iPlayer. It’s a terrific account, in particular the portrayals of Franklin and Wilkins (Jeff Goldblum as Watson not so good). Wilkins was the main advisor. H/t @syntenicman.bsky.social 1/n

We're excited to announce the newest Bowel Cancer UK research grants! These three projects, focusing on early diagnosis, bring our total research investment to £2.4m since 2017. Read more about the projects here: www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/news-and-blo...

Good morning to this man, and this man only #bbcqt

We’re excited to announce that applications are now open for Bowel Cancer UK early diagnosis project grants 📝 If you have a research proposal to improve early diagnosis of #BowelCancer in the UK, apply now for up to £165k for a 2-3 year project. Find out more and apply: bit.ly/3PLtssP

Auschwitz was at the end of a long process. It did not start from gas chambers. This hatred was gradually developed by humans. From ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.

transcribing an interview I did with a fascinating but (mostly) charmingly scatterbrained academic and sad that I can't somehow find a way to put this in the piece

Devastating for scientists and their research, and everyone who benefits from that research. I’m not sure if everyone outside academia is aware that a delay or “pause” in grant funding often means the researchers themselves are lost from the field, along with their expertise.

A reminder that blue Monday was invented by travel agents to sell holidays but you should be nice to yourself today regardless so go have a sit down, watch some TV, eat some biscuits and just say it’s self care.

Today I was on the radio AND had a dentist appointment and now my energy has crashed hard. Might need a mid-afternoon power nap.

I'm not particularly superstitious, but I do hold on to this one irrationality: the burning of the goat DOES matter. My argument is that it hasn't burned for years now and shit keeps getting steadily worse. It was eaten by crows last year, but clearly that wasn't good enough.